ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin advised leaders and officers from most African international locations on Thursday that his nation is making full efforts to avert a world meals disaster regardless of considerations that its withdrawal from a deal permitting grain shipments from Ukraine will trigger shortages and worth spikes.

He spoke on the opening session of a two-day Russia-Africa summit attended by a sharply decrease variety of African heads of state and authorities in contrast with a earlier summit in 2019.

“Our country will continue supporting needy states and regions, in particular, with its humanitarian deliveries. We seek to actively participate in building a fairer system of distribution of resources. We are taking maximum efforts to avert a global food crisis,” Putin stated.

“I have already said that our country can replace Ukrainian grain, both on a commercial basis and as grant aid to the neediest African countries, more so since we expect another record harvest this year,” he stated.

Russia and Ukraine agreed a yr in the past on a U.N.- and Turkey-brokered deal that reopened three Ukrainian Black Sea ports that had been blocked by Russia-Ukraine preventing and offered assurances that ships coming into the ports wouldn't be attacked. Russia declined to resume the settlement this month, complaining that its personal exports have been being held up.

Both Russia and Ukraine are main grain suppliers.

Promising Russian meals exports to Africa is essential to Putin‘s acknowledged aim of utilizing the summit to bolster ties with a continent of 1.3 billion folks that's more and more assertive on the worldwide stage.

Putin additionally introduced different strikes to deepen relations with Africa, together with elevated enrollment of African college students in Russian universities, the opening of Russian state information media bureaus in lots of African international locations and a proposed “common information space in Russia and Africa, within which objective, unbiased information about events taking place in the world will be broadcast to Russian and African audiences.”

Africa’s 54 nations make up the biggest voting bloc on the United Nations and have been extra divided than some other area on General Assembly resolutions criticizing Russia’s actions in Ukraine.

It’s the second Russia-Africa summit since 2019. The variety of heads of state attending shrank from 43 then to 17 now due to what the Kremlin described as crude Western stress to discourage African nations from collaborating.

Putin’s international affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, stated that whereas solely 17 heads of state are attending the summit, 32 different African international locations are represented by senior officers or ambassadors.

Along with grain, one other challenge prone to be on the agenda is the destiny of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group led by Yevgeny Prigozhin following its temporary insurrection towards the highest army management final month. Wagner’s future shall be an pressing challenge for international locations corresponding to Sudan, Mali and others who contract with the mercenary group in change for pure sources like gold. Russian officers and Prigozhin have stated the corporate will proceed working in Africa.

A peace proposal for Ukraine that African leaders have tried to pursue is ready to be mentioned as properly.

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Associated Press author Jim Heintz in Tallinn, Estonia, contributed to this report.

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